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Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides a right of access to a wide range of information held by public authorities, including the NHS. The purpose is to promote greater openness and accountability.

Our duty to you

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 requires us to:

  • Provide information to you about Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust through a publication scheme
  • Provide a guide to this information
  • Respond appropriately to requests for information

Before you request information

Before submitting a new request for information it's important to check whether the information you seek is already available. If you request information that is already published, we will refer you to the published source.

Our disclosure log outlines some of the Freedom of Information requests we have received and responded to. We routinely publish anonymised responses to FOI requests where these are of general nature and are considered to be of public interest.

We also have a publication scheme setting out key corporate and operational information from the Trust. 

Who can request information?

Everyone has the right to ask to see recorded information held by public authorities.

What can I request?

You can seek any recorded information that you think the Trust may hold.

If you ask for environmental information, your request will be handled under the Environmental Regulations (EIRs). Environmental information includes things like carbon emissions or the environment’s effect on human health.

If a member of the public wishes to see information that the Trust holds about them, such as their health or medical records then a subject access request should be made. Access to personal data can not be requested via an FOI request.

How to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 

You are encouraged to check our FOI disclosure log and Publication Scheme section to see if the information you require is already available.

If you haven’t found what you are looking for, please submit your request by email or in writing:

  • Email: WHCNHS.FOIrequest@nhs.net 
  • Post: Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, Freedom of Information Officer, Company Secretary's Office, 2 Kings Court, Charles Hastings Way, Worcester,  Worcestershire, WR5 1JR. 

Other information

  • Ensure that you include a contact name and address in your request. This can be a physical or email address as long as we know where to forward your response.
  • Try to include as much detail as possible, in your request, about the information you require. This helps us when processing your request.
  • The Trust cannot accept a verbal request for information.
  • Please be aware that the Act operates an appropriate cost limit. Therefore if the time and resource taken to provide your information exceeds that limit the Trust can apply a charge to your request or issue a written refusal notice.

For further details on the Freedom of Information Act 2000, exemptions, the appropriate cost limit and more please visit the Information Commissioner’s website.

Timeframes

The NHS is facing unprecedented challenges, understandably our resources are being diverted away from the usual compliance and information rights work to support colleagues who are working tremendously hard to provide care for our patients, and to those in need of our services. 

Whilst we recognise that statutory timescales cannot be extended, at this time, the care of our patients and the safety of our staff takes precedent, therefore it is likely that responses to some requests for information will be delayed. We apologise for this position in advance, and will endeavour to provide you with as much information as we can, as soon as we are able.